Air-jet cleaning and painting device



Sept-1,1936. w HALE 2,052,622

AIR JET CLEANING AND PAINTING DEV-ICE Filed Aug. 5, 1933 atented Sept. l, 393

JET

William B. Hale, Huntington Park, Calif.

Application August 5, 1933, Serial No. 683,882

4 Claims. (cuss-14o) This invention relates to a device for facilitating cleaning or painting operations, and while it can beused for cleaning and painting any ob-' iect, it is intended to be especially useful for cleaning automobiles, woodworking machinery, or any machinery in machine shops or other places. I

The general object of the invention is to produce a device for this purpose, of simple construction constructed in such a way that it can readily reach the points where the cleaning liquid or the paint is to be applied.

Another object of the invention is to produce a tool of this kind, of simple construction, and

having few parts, and which can be readily held in ones hands and controlled by the workman.

The device is constructed so as to utilize an air-jet for entrainlng a liquid such as a cleaning liquid or paint, and one of the objects of the invention is to provide an emcient method and means for controlling the manner of admitting the air, thereby enabling difierent effects at the nozzle to be attained through using compressed air at a pressure common in shop practice.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this kind, which is constructed so that it is capable of carrying an air hose and a second hose that delivers the liquid to the device,.and to provide simple means controlled by the fingers v of the workman holding the device, for controlling the proportion of compressed air and liquid which are mixed in the device before delivery from the delivery nozzle; also to provide the device with a liquid valve for controlling the delivery of the liquid to the nozzle, and means in addition to the valve for regulating the area of the duct that delivers the liquid from the valve to the nozzle.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved construction for the air valve and for the liquid valve, which will insure that these valves will close tight upon their seats.

Further objects of the invention will appear" hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combination of parts to be described hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an emcient air-jet cleaning and painting device.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the cleaning and painting device embody ng my invention and illustrating a portion of the air hose and liquid hose broken away.

Figure 2 is a plan of the device illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical section tak n on the line 3--3 of Figure 2, upon an enlarged scale and broken away at its middle portion.

Figure 4 is a vertical cross-section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3, and further illustrating details of the invention.

Figure 5 is a vertical section taken on the line 55 of Figure 3 upon a slightly enlarged scale,

and further illustrating details of the construction at this point. The lower part of the view is broken away.

Before proceeding to a more detailed description of the invention, it should be stated that it is particularly adapted for removing grease and dirt from machinery which has been in use for a.

considerable time, and which must be cleaned 15 from time to time, or for the purpose of enabling repairs to be made. It has been the practice to use a steam jet for removing grease and dirt of this kind from machinery, and for cleaning the machinery of automobiles. The use of the steam jet may injure the paint on an automobile, and hence, in using that method for cleaning automobiles, great care must be taken to prevent the steam from injuring the paint or enamel on the car body. My device is so constructed that it can be made very light and held in the workmans hand. It is provided with a nozzle and with means controlled by the fingers of the hand for admitting compressed air and the liquid such as the cleaning liquid. The effect of the air is to reduce the liquid to a fine spray, which is directed onto the machinery or the parts to be cleaned by the nozzle at the forward end of the device. The device can also be used for painting parts which have been cleaned. In using the device, the air blast can be employed for drying the parts after cleaning, and the device is so constructed as to facilitate this. In this way the danger of rust on metal parts is eliminated. Although the device is intended primarily for use as a cleaner, it can be used for painting buildings, steel structures, bridges, and for spraying trees and shrub bery.

Referring more particularly to the parts, I indicates the handle of the device which is preferably constructed at its rear portion with a grip '2 to be grasped in the hand, and forward of this grip an opening 3'-is formed in the handle, beyond which the handle is formed into an integral valve casing 4 which carries the air valve and liquid valve. The forward end of the valve casing a is drilled to form an air valve chamber 5 and a liquid valve chamber 6, beyond which openings 1 and 8 are drilled through into the of a head or disc.

stems 9 and 13, the former of which'is associated with the .liquid valve II which is in the form This disc preferably has'a fiat forward face I 2 and a circumferential side face i3, so that an edge or dihedral angle is formed between these faces. This edge is received in a conical seat I4 that is formed at the inner end of a bushing l5 that'isscrewed into the outer end of the valve chamber 6. This bushing has a central bore I76 that forms a duct for carrying liquid forwardly from the valve, and this duct is prostufllng box filled with packing 23 held in place by a gland-2| against which a coiled spring 22 thrusts. The forward end of this spring thrusts against the rear side of the valve head II. On the side of the valve casing 4 an elbow connec-. tion 23 is provided, to which the liquid hose 24 is attached. This elbow connection 23 admits the liquid into the valve chamber 6.

At a suitable point and preferably on the under side of the valve casing, an opening 25 is formed for the attachment of air hose 26. The opening 26 is preferably threadedto facilitate this con. nection, and above this threaded opening a port 21 is formed that admits the airinto the air valve the liquid, .and this member is provided with means for effecting a thorough mixture of the air and liquid which will enable it to issue in a spray. Thismember-or barrel 3| is preferably composed of an outer tube 32 that screws into the forward end of the valve casing, and an inher. central tube 33.' The inner central tube is rigidly mounted in the bore of the bushing 30 so as to receive compressed air from the valve 28. The inner tube 33 is preferably centrally mounted in'the outer tube. The duct I8 communicates with a port 34 cut in the side wall of the outer tube 32 for enabling liquid to pass through into the annular space 35 between the .wall of the inner tube and the wall'of the outer tube.

The member 3| is provided with means for thoroughly mixing the liquid and air which is preferably in the form of a nozzle 36 secured to the outer end of this member. Within thisnozzle 36, I provide an inner nozzle 31 which con-' stitutes an extension of the inner tube 33. At

this point a'nd around the base of the inner nozzle 31, the collar orbushing 38 is provided having ,a plurality of small openings 39 through it.

The nozzle 42 is located 'in a conical chamber 43 in the nozzle 36 into which atmospheric air is entrained through openings 44 at the rear end of the nozzle 36. In other words, as the mixture of compressed air and liquid issues from the tip of the second inner nozzle 42, it passes through the tubular tip 45 of the nozzle 36, and this en- 5 trains considerable atmc pheric air which passes in through the openings 44. This atmospheric air joins with the mixture of air and liquid, and greatly increases the volume of air that issues from the tip 45 of the nozzle. This additional air increases the finely divided state of the liquid. In other words, it increases the spray effect. Bringing in this additional air is advantageous for the reason that it prevents too great a concentration of an air-jet under ,high pressure on 5 a single point which might have a tendency to remove paint or enamel in a situation where the device is being used for cleaning a painted object.

It also enables the area of the tip 45 to be increased, thereby increasing the area that will be 20 cleaned by the device in any certain position.

Any suitable means may be employed for lifting the air valve and the liquid valve offof their seats. In the present instance I prefer to accomplish this by providing triggers or finger 25 heads 46 and 41 which are attached respectively to the valve stems 9 and I3. These triggers may in the form of blocks guided to slide through a guide opening 48 on the forward side of the gri" 2. These triggers are provided with finger 30 openings 49 for receiving two fingers of the hand that grips the handle.

' The valve 28 is provided with a spring 50 similar to the spring 22 for the other valve, and its stem I6 is preferably packed by means such as that dc.- scribed in connection with the valve stem 9.

I prefer to provide means in addition to the valve l3 for controlling the flow of the liquid.

'For this purpose, I provide a threaded stem 5| that screws into the outer end of the bushing l5, and the forward end of this stem has a tapered tip 52 that covers more or less the port l1. This regulating stem 5! can be clamped in any position desired, by a jamb nut 63.

Inusing the device, the workman holds the handle I in one hand with two fingers introduced through the openings in the triggers. With his left hand he then guides the barrel 3| so as to hold the nozzle 36 adjacent to the part to be; cleaned. By pulling on the triggers 46 and 41 the flow of compressed air can be controlled, and also the amount of liquid being admitted to the nozzle 36. As the compressed air passes from the tip 31, it entrains the liquid fromthe annular chamber 35, and as this mixture of air and liquid pass through the second nozzle 42, this nozzle en'- trains atmospheric air which greatly increases the volume 01' air that passes from the tip 45 of the nozzle. The atmospheric air entrained through the air inlet opening l3, entrains liquid that flows past the liquid valve. 4

. When the device is'used for painting, the hose 24 would supply a liquid paint to the valve chamber 6 instead of a cleaning liquid.

The nozzle 361s preferably detachable from the barrel. This enables nozzles of different diameter, or with different areas of the parts 44 to be substituted, to adapt the device to special requirements. If a concentrated action of the device is desired, the outer shell of nozzle 36 can be omitted. I

It is understood that the embodiment of the invention describedherein is only one of the manyembodiments this invention may take, and

I do not wish to be limited in the practice of the said valve-casing, an air valve mounted in said casing for admitting compressed air to one of said tubes, a liquid valve mounted in said casing for "admitting liquid to the other tube, each of said valves being completely movable independently of the other, means associated with one of said valves for operating the same by a finger of a hand holding the handle, means associated with the other valve for operating the same by another finger of the hand, and a nozzle at the outer end of said tubes for directing the compressed air with the entrained liquid against the part to be cleaned.

or painted, said casing having a duct through which the admitted liquid passes, and means independent of the valve for regulating the effective area of said duct.

2. In an air-jet cleaning and painting device, the combination of a handle. a valve-casing carried forward of said handle, an outer tube and an inner tube extending forwardly from said valvecasing, an air valve mounted in said casing for admitting compressed air to one of said tubes, a liquid valve mounted in said casing for admitting liquid to the other of said tubes, each of said valves having a stem extendin'g' rearwardly from the valve casing, and a finger head corresponding to each stem, having an opening to receive a finger and secured to itscorresponding stem, and means for guiding the rear end of each fingerhead in the handle.

3. Inan air-jet: cleaning and painting device,

inner tube extending forwardly from said valvecasing, an air valve mounted in said casing for admitting compressed air to one of said tubes, a liquid valve mountedin said casing for admitting liquid to the other of said tubes. each of said valves having a stem extending rearwardly from the valve casing, and a finger head with a finger opening to receive a finger corresponding to each stem and secured to the same and guided to slide in said handle to enable the valves to be actuated by the fingers of a hand holding the handle, a spring for each valve stem housed in the casing forward of the finger openings, and a nozzle at the outer end of said tubes for directing the compressed air with the entrained liquid against the part to be cleaned or painted.

4. In an air-jet cleaning and painting device,

the combination of a handle, a valve-casing carried forward of said handle, an outer tube for conducting a liquid, an inner tube for conducting compressed air, a valve seat, a liquid valve guided to slide onto said seat, for controlling the admisslon of liquid to the outer tube, a second valve seat, a compressed air valve-guided to slide onto said last named seat, for controlling admission of compressed air to the inner tube, said valvecasing having a duct for conducting the liquid from the liquid valve to the outer tube'with means for regulating the flow throughthe same, said valve-casing having a valve chamber corresponding to each valve with means for connecting a hose to the same to admit the compressed air and the liquid on the back of the corresponding valves, means controlled by the fingers of the hand grasping the handle for individually controlling said ,va1ves, and a nozzle at the outer end of said tubes for entrainlng the liquid with the conr pressed air escaping from the nozzle.

wnmAMnHALE. 

